Gambling

Wasn’t it me that predicted that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would be the first baseball manager to be shown the door in 2006? Yes I also think that Barry Bonds is being unfairly accused of using performance enhancing drugs? No Gardenhire is doing just fine these days as he and his troops prepare for a crucial three game set in the Twin Cities tonight.

Minnesota (59-41) has won 34 of 42 since June 8 to cut what was an 11-game deficit in the wild card to a half-game.

“We’re just playing really good baseball,” said manager Ron Gardenhire, whose team was 25-33 nearly seven weeks ago. “People keep talking about the streak we’re on, but streaks don’t last two months or a month and a half.”

The Twins caught the struggling Chicago White Sox, who have led the wild-card race for most of the season, by completing a three-game sweep with a 7-4 victory Wednesday. Minnesota and Chicago are right behind the New York Yankees, who open a three-game home set against Tampa Bay on Friday night.

The Tigers under veteran skipper Jim Leyland have maintained their composure and now must deal with the newest phenom in the American League and that would be none other then rookie pitcher Francisco Liariano. The Twins look to keep rolling Friday behind Liriano (12-2, 1.93 ERA), who pitched poorly against the Tigers in two relief outings this season, allowing seven runs and 11 hits in 3 2-3 innings for a 17.18 ERA.

Since being moved into the rotation, though, the rookie left-hander has become a leading contender for the CY Young Award, going 11-2 with a 1.59 ERA in 13 starts. Minnesota is 2-7 this season against Detroit and has been outscored 64-25. In a three-game sweep from April 28-30 at Comerica Park, the Twins were outscored 33-1. The Tigers (68-33) have the best record in the major leagues, and their 30-13 mark against divisional opponents is also tops in baseball. Detroit leads the AL Central by 8 1/2 games over Minnesota and Chicago.

The question mark for all contending teams is the starting pitching and the Tigers send a struggling Zach Miner to the hill tonight. Miner has lasted only 6 2-3 combined innings and given up 10 earned runs in losing both of his starts since the break. In his first seven starts after being recalled in early June, the right-hander was 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA and didn’t allow more than three runs in a game.

Detroit gave Miner a five-run lead after one inning Saturday against Oakland, but he surrendered five runs in the top of the second and was pulled after a season-low 2 1-3 innings of a 9-5 loss.

Detroit has lost 9 of the past 12 in Minnesota and will be a dog tonight!

Bob Acton

Online Sports Betting

Inside the Boxscores is a weekly feature from Matt Fargo that has been widely recognized as the best summation in college football. He takes an in-depth look at each game and pulls out the most pertinent information that will help you handicap games in the future. College football is filled with quirky plays, misleading scores and surprise endings. Fargo takes you inside the action.

S-M-U 22 U-A-B 9

SMU outgained the Blazers by just 36 total yards but the defense stiffened when needed, holding UAB to four field goal attempts. The Mustangs were down by two points midway through the 4th quarter but used a short field to set up the go ahead touchdown and then returned an interception for a score two plays later to pull away. UAB ran 21 more plays but finished with an average of only 3.2 ypp.

(14) BOISE STATE 45 Fresno State 21

Fresno St. grabbed the early lead after returning a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown but the Broncos scored the next five touchdowns to pull away. The Bulldogs finished with just 223 total yards and 11 first downs as one of its other touchdowns came on an interception return. Boise St. was 10-15 on third and fourth down conversions and finished with 300 yards rushing on 47 carries (6.4 ypc).

(3) LOUISVILLE 44 (10) West Virginia 34

The teams combined for 1,008 total yards with West Virginia finishing with a 72-yard edge but the Cardinals used touchdowns on a fumble return and a punt return in the third quarter to break the game open. Louisville was inside West Virginia territory on all of its possessions with the exception of the final one. The Mountaineers finished with 318 yards rushing on 50 carries (6.4 ypc).

Air Force 43 ARMY 7

The difference was turnovers, as Army committed six including a fumble at the Air Force two-yard line that was returned 98 for the first touchdown on the game. The Falcons also recovered another fumble in the endzone for another score in the second quarter. Army ran only 49 offensive plays but outgained the Falcons 5.1 ypp to 4.6 ypp. Three of the Black Knights interceptions were inside their own 30-yard line.

SOUTH FLORIDA 22 Pittsburgh 12

South Florida held the Panthers to just 214 total yards and 12 first downs while eating up over 11 more minutes of the clock. The Bulls ran 28 more plays from scrimmage as they had seven dives of six or more plays compared to just three for Pittsburgh. The Panthers longest drive came in garbage time when they drove 80 yards for their final score. The teams combined for 21 penalties.

(23) Maryland 13 CLEMSON 12

Maryland kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to pull off the upset. Clemson outgained the Terrapins 394-301 but failed to get into the endzone, settling for four field goals, three of which were 27 yards or less. The Tigers regained the lead with 2:25 remaining but Maryland went 52 yards on 12 plays including a crucial fourth down conversion to set up the game winner.

FLORIDA STATE 33 Virginia 0

Florida St. returned an interception for a touchdown on the third play of the game and never looked back. The defense held the Cavaliers to 183 total yards including 58 yards rushing on 32 carries (1.8 ypc). The Seminoles second touchdown came on a two-yard drive that was set up by a blocked punt. Virginia did not make it past the Florida St. 36-yard line as it punted 10 times.

Northwestern 21 IOWA 7

Northwestern dominated this game and the score should have been much worse. The Wildcats outgained Iowa 443-264 but missed a chip shot field goal while also throwing an interception at the Hawkeyes 14-yard line. After scoring on its opening drive, the Wildcats missed that field goal but were set up by an Iowa fumble for a short touchdown drive. Iowa’s only score came off an interception.

(2) MICHIGAN 34 Ball State 26

Michigan escaped as it held the Cardinals on a critical fourth down attempt at the seven-yard line midway through the fourth that could have tied the game. The Wolverines outgained Ball St. 507-297 but the Cardinals used a safety and an interception return for a touchdown to bolster their scoring. The Wolverines were forced to punt on all three fourth quarter possessions keeping Ball St. alive.

(16) WISCONSIN 13 Penn State 3

Wisconsin held the Nittany Lions to just 201 total yards and 12 first downs while forcing two critical turnovers and two late fourth down stops. The second Penn St. fumble set up Wisconsin’s final field goal and the Nittany Lions were stopped in Badgers territory on their final two possessions. Wisconsin won the time of possession battle by over 15 minutes as it ran 16 more plays from scrimmage.

NEBRASKA 34 Missouri 20

Nebraska jumped out to a 27-6 halftime lead as it grabbed two interceptions that led to short touchdown drives. Missouri scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half but turned it over on downs and fumbled at midfield on its last two. The Huskers were 11-17 on third down conversions while Missouri went just 3-13. Nebraska was in Tigers territory on 10 of its 12 possessions.

TEXAS TECH 55 Baylor 21

Baylor enjoyed a seven-point lead early in the second quarter thanks to an interception but the Red Raiders ran off five consecutive touchdowns to pull away. Texas Tech racked up 682 yards of offense while holding the Bears to just 217 yards including 20 yards rushing on 29 carries (0.7 ypc). Texas Tech scored on eight consecutive possessions as it finished a perfect 6-6 inside the redzone.

MINNESOTA 63 Indiana 26

Minnesota built a 35-0 lead after running only 18 plays from scrimmage and Indiana could never recover. The Gophers outgained Indiana by only 41 total yards, 541-500 but most of the Hoosiers production came when the game was well decided. Indiana ran 26 more plays as the Gophers gained a solid 9.3 ypp. 21 of Minnesota’s points came off turnovers as its average starting field position was the 41-yard line.

(6) Florida 25 VANDERBILT 19

Florida set up its first touchdown off a blocked punt and then held off a late Commodores rally to win the SEC East title. Vanderbilt actually outgained Florida 391-330 but a missed field in the second half along with a turnover on downs at the Florida 10-yard line ended up being the difference. Florida was not sharp with just 88 yards rushing and two third down conversions in nine tries.

Mississippi State 24 ALABAMA 16

Alabama outgained the Bulldogs 288 -274 but the Tide were forced to kick three short field goals and gained just 20 total yards in three fourth quarter possessions. Both teams returned interceptions for touchdowns including Mississippi St’s before halftime to build a 14-point lead. Alabama drove 76 yards on the ensuing possession but was stopped at the one-yard line as time expired at the half.

KENTUCKY 24 Georgia 20

Kentucky scored the game winning touchdown with 1:21 remaining after Georgia regained the lead three minutes prior with an 83-yard scoring drive. The Bulldogs outgained Kentucky 389-351 but they had four turnovers while missing two field goals. One of those turnovers was an interception at the Wildcats two-yard line right before halftime.

Navy 38 DUKE 13

Duke jumped ahead 6-0 on its opening possession but the Midshipmen ran off 38 unanswered points to pull off the rout. Navy rushed for 435 yards on 70 carries (6.2 ypc) and threw the ball only five times. The Blue Devils were inside the Navy 12-yard line four times but came away with just two scores. Navy didn’t punt once but did have three fumbles and a turnover on downs.

Central Michigan 42 TEMPLE 26

Central Michigan outgained the Owls 499-309 but even that is misleading as Temple generated only six total yards on its first five possessions while falling behind 28-0. Four of the six Chippewas touchdowns came on plays of 30 yards or more while five of those scoring drives were 65 yards or more. Central Michigan finished with 216 yards rushing on 32 carries (6.8 ypc).

BUFFALO 41 Kent State 14

Buffalo spotted Kent St. a 14-0 lead before the Bulls took over and scored the final 41 points of the game. The Golden Flashes generated 144 yards on its two scoring drives but managed only 154 total yards after that. Kent St. had five turnovers that led to 21 points and also turned it over on downs deep in its own territory to set up another touchdown. Buffalo was just 1-10 on third down conversions.

AKRON 35 Bowling Green 28

Akron outgained the Falcons 470-368 but it took a late fourth down stop to secure the victory. The Zips were down by a touchdown but scored on three straight possessions to take a 14-point lead. After the Falcons pulled to within a touchdown, they recovered the onsides kick but were stopped at the 34-yard line as time expired. Akron missed a short field goal and was intercepted in the Bowling Green endzone.

Ohio U 16 EASTERN MICHIGAN 10

Ohio avoided the upset as the defense allowed only 57 total yards in the second half while the offense scored the winning touchdown late in the third quarter. The Bobcats used a strong rushing attack, generating 278 yards on 51 carries (5.5 ypc) while passing for just 46 yards. All three of Ohio’s scoring drives were 41 yards or less while three possessions that each totaled more yards resulted in no points.

Kansas 41 IOWA STATE 10

Iowa St. got the scoring going with a field goal but Kansas ripped off 41 unanswered points to win in a blowout. The Jayhawks outgained Iowa St. 403-213 with 90 of those Cyclones yards coming in the fourth quarter. Both teams had four turnovers and while the Cyclones got only three points from theirs, the Jayhawks scored 21 points. Iowa St. rushed for just 33 yards on 30 carries (1.1 ypc).

(9) NOTRE DAME 45 North Carolina 26

Notre Dame outgained the Tar Heels 452-244 but the Irish could not put them away as they were up by only 12 points after a 72-yard touchdown pass by North Carolina midway through the third quarter. The Notre Dame defense allowed -1 yards after that to seal the win. The Irish ran 23 more plays, finished 8-14 on third down conversions and went a perfect 5-5 inside the redzone.

(5) AUBURN 27 Arkansas State 0

Auburn held the Indians to just 177 total yards while the Tigers offense was very efficient, gaining 399 yards on only 50 plays (8.0 ypp). Arkansas St. didn’t cross midfield until midway through the fourth quarter where it was stopped at the 15-yard line on fourth down. The one Auburn downfall was committing four turnovers, all of which were inside Indians territory.

T-C-U 25 U-N-L-V 10

TCU outgained the Rebels 416-246 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates. UNLV had 80 yards on its lone touchdown drive in garbage time while the Horned Frogs fumbled twice and also turned it over on downs at the Rebels one-yard line. UNLV finished 1-3 inside the redzone and went 1-11 on third and fourth down conversions.

WYOMING 27 San Diego St 24

San Diego St. jumped ahead 17-3 following a fumble recovery for a touchdown but the Cowboys responded with 24 unanswered points to pull away. Wyoming held the Aztecs to 232 total yards and 10 first downs but San Diego St. pulled to within three points late in the game and then failed to recover the onsides kick. Wyoming controlled the clock for 16 more minutes as it ran 38 more plays from scrimmage.

Hawaii 63 UTAH STATE 10

The Warriors offense continues to feast on the opposition as they tallied 572 total yards on only 51 plays (11.2 ypp). Hawaii was inside Aggies territory on all but two possessions. Utah St. kicked a field goal on its opening possession of the first half and a touchdown on its opening possession of the second half but managed only 231 yards on its other 12 possessions.

In college they have trends and in the pros they have trends. There is one difference between the two though: NCAA teams stay truer to trends than the pros. If a team is 1-11 against the spread (ATS) on the first Saturday in October, most of the time that trend holds true. It’s funny sometimes because it’s like both teams know that trend and it turns out to be a massacre on a Saturday morning. The scary part is that there are trends on anything and everything! First Saturdays, last Saturdays, morning games, night games, afternoon games, temperature trends, color trends, if the quarterback or running back had so many yards the game before trends, you name it, they have a trend for it…and the real scary part is a lot of times they hold true. In the college ranks, studying the trends is a great way to bet.

Rivalry games play a huge part in a point spread. A lot of times the teams are of equal talent and other times one team is really good and the other is rather crappy. But if it’s a rivalry game, the point spreads are usually pretty low no matter how good or bad the teams are. A quick example: In 1996, when Jake “The Snake” Plummer was playing for Arizona State and had that great team, they played their rival Arizona at Arizona. At the time, Arizona State was ranked in the top 3 while Arizona was struggling to win 5 games.

I was figuring the point spread to be in the minus 20’s for Arizona State. My mouth dropped when I saw the opening line: Arizona State -7. I said to myself that can’t be right but in fact it was. I thought to myself, even being alumni of the University of Arizona, this was a no brainer bet, Arizona State all the way. Arizona State had a chance to be National Champs and even though Arizona was their rival it should be a blowout. For the first half, it was a close game; I actually believe it was tied at halftime. But in the end Arizona St. did blow them out 56-14.

A minus 7-point spread just shows how big a rivalry game is to a point spread. If you look at the rest of the games in that series since that 1996 game, not one game is decided by more than 10 points! Rivalry games usually stay rather close. Look at Florida/Tennessee, those games are usually real close and those point spreads are just as close. Be careful with rivalry games, even though a team is much better than the other, doesn’t mean a for sure victory.

Craps is the casino game that everybody is curious about. It’s big and looks complicated, and when people are winning, it’s the loudest place in the casino. Like any casino game some luck is involved in winning, but the flexibility and choices that craps players have allows them to position themselves to play aggressively when the dice get hot.

One of the things that makes craps so interesting is that you can interact with the game according to your own strategy. You can set goals that might be completely different from the player next to you but you both can be winning. Once you understand the basics of play, you can become like a gymnast, who can move backward and forward on the balance beam. If you choose, you can put all your moves together and devise a routine.

An avid sect of players employs the power pressing craps system. Power pressing is the general term to describe playing craps in an aggressive manner that steadily increases the size of bets. House money (money generated by winning bets at the casino) is the preferred source of money for fattening the bets. It is classic reinvestment of profits. The “power” in the term power pressing refers to the determination with which bets are increased. The player will rarely receive any change after a number has won because all the winnings are reinvested in the bet. Some power presses even require that the player chip in a few more bucks in order to achieve the next desired betting level. Power presses can be done to one number or multiple numbers at the same time.

To distinguish between regular old pressing and power pressing, think of pressing as speeding a bit on the highway when you are late for work. Power pressing is more like automobile racing. You want to draft behind the car in front of you and build as much momentum into your system as possible before swinging out ahead and making the big win.

In order to begin power pressing, you need to have one or more place bets. Place bets are the most suited to power pressing because they win the first time the number rolls, unlike come bets, and the player has the option to reclaim the entire bet. Now that you have some place bets in action, you can begin power pressing. The following scenario will serve as an example of the power pressing technique.

Basic Six and Eight Power Press

The six and the eight are the most common numbers to attempt to power press. This is because, after the omnipresent seven, the six and eight are the most common rolls and therefore the numbers amenable to rolling repeatedly. Having your place bets win two or more times is key to successful power pressing and winning.

1. You start with $6 bets on the six and eight. Your initial goal is to achieve $12 bets on the six and eight after only one win on either the six or eight.
2. The six rolls while the bet is in action, and the $6 place bet wins $7.
3. You say “press the six and eight” and GIVE THE DEALER $5.
4. The dealer will take the new $5 injected into the system and put it with the $7 payoff, which equals $12. This will become the new $12 bet on the six. The original $6 on the six will be added to the $6 on the eight and thereby create a second $12 bet on the eight. If the eight rolled instead of the six in this scenario, the same things occur.
5. So far, you have invested $17 (original $12 bets plus the $5 for the power press) and have $24 in action. The next time the six or eight rolls, you will be paid $14. Now your investment has been recouped except for $3, and the next win will be pure profit of $11. Winning the $11 relies upon sixes or eights rolling three times without the seven rolling when the bets are active.

This scenario was taken from the book Get Dicey: Play Craps and Have Fun. The book, written by a former Las Vegas craps dealer, contains more power pressing descriptions as well just about every thing else about craps. Remember, the key to maximizing winnings is making bets bigger while you’re winning.

Australian Joe Hachem got several early Christmas gifts this week, including the second bookend in a set that doesn’t exactly match and another gold bracelet.

No problem.

He isn’t about to exchange or return either.

The winner of the 2005 World Series of Poker’s main event, the last to be held at Binion’s Horseshoe in Glitter Gulch, on Tuesday added the $15,000 buy-in Season V World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic championship to his ever-lengthening resume.

The tournament highlighted and concluded Bellagio’s Five-Star Diamond Classic.

Hachem collected $2,182,075, a $25,000 entry into spring’s WPT Championship and, oh yeah, the gold bracelet.

“If I win, I’ll have one from here (Bellagio) and one from there (Binion’s),” Hachem said in a pre-tournament interview, gesturing with a shoulder while referring to the Strip and Downtown areas of Las Vegas.

“That’s OK with me.”

Poker’s Man in Black had to come from the fourth spot to overtake chip leader Daniel Negreanu, with whom he’d jousted the previous day before falling from second, and claim his second major Sin City championship.

He rallied in the same manner he did at the 2005 event, when he was short-stacked much of the time.

Speaking before the show was taped, Hachem said another title definitely meant more than the cash, but he’d be happy to take both.

“It’s always the title first, though” he said.

If Hachem and the tax collector — they went round and round after his WSOP triumph — reach accord, Joe might even come up with enough bills to buy that black Mercedes he has been eyeing to replace the Lexus he currently drives.

Combining the $7.5 million he won at the WSOP nearly 18 months ago with the almost $2.2M he pocketed Tuesday, Hachem has walked away from Las Vegas with almost $10 million over the past two years.

Joining him Tuesday were his wife of 16 years and a son, who’d flown in from Melbourne for the occasion.

Hachem revealed he and pals had spent some long hours at the tables, dining and otherwise, prior to Monday’s session, which ran past 3 a.m., so he was weary when he finally climbed into bed.

“I slept like a baby,” he said.

Hachem arrived at the Travel Channel set early, did a couple interviews and then mingled with the overflow crowd, affably posing for pictures with anyone who asked.

While Monday’s action stretched out, Hachem wrapped things up in four hours on Tuesday.

Exiting sixth was Edward Jordan, who was followed by, in order, David Redlin, Mads Andersen, Negreanu and Jim Hanna, who collected $1,099,430 as runner-up.

Hanna raised to $480,000 leading up to the final hand and Hachem made the call.

The board showed the king of hearts, jack of clubs and four of diamonds.

Hachem checked, Hanna bet $600,000 and Hachem again made the call.

The turn was the ace of diamonds.

Hachem checked, Hanna bet out $1.2 million and Hachem mucked his hand.

Hachem raised to $500,000 on the next hand and Hanna folded.

Hanna then raised to $720,000 and Hachem moved all-in.

Hanna made the call and flipped over the queen and jack of clubs.

Hachem displayed the ace of spades and six of clubs.

The board came ace of clubs, queen of diamonds, three of diamonds, eight of clubs and two of diamonds.

State lotteries, Mega Million lotteries – just to name a few well known legalized ways to take your money. Chances of winning a lottery are about equal to chances of been hit by a lightning, that is if you truly believe in what they tell you about random nature of winning numbers. I will take a look at simple facts and will let you make a decision.

Just HOW RANDOM are the winning numbers?

Answering this question one way or another will either keep you among the millions that play and then envy the winners or get you a bit closer to the future you always wanted. In theory every number played has an equal chance to be drawn or is it? Even when Albert Einstein studied gambling, he came to conclusion that luck doesn’t exist and that probability is The Deciding Factor.

But don’t let me mesmerize you with words and lets work with some real facts. If you are a thinking person, and I assume you are, if you are reading this article – you need hard facts and flashy words will not convince you. So here we go …

Let have a look at this website, provided to us by one of the most popular lotteries “Mega Millions”: http://www.valottery.com/megamillions/game_analysis.asp

This page will clearly show you that some numbers have been drawn 18 times as of time of writing this article, making them a “hot numbers” and at the same time other numbers became winning numbers only 3 or 4 time. Doesn’t it strike you as odd?

Or even better question would be – How do you make sense out of what you have just learned and use it to your advantage?

I’m sure you know at least one person, who follows their own system for picking winning lottery numbers. People play their birthdays, license plate numbers, badge numbers … you can add to this long list your own options. Quite frankly I will not go too deep into this madness, or is it?

I know of at least 2 different systems myself, used for picking numbers in lotteries.

One of the most known is “Frequency Theory” that simply allows you to highlight Hot And Cold numbers in the draw and attempts to ‘Predict’ the next winning combination. One of the simplest and yet effective systems it relies solely on previous performance data, that is made available to us and can lead to success.

“Numerology System” is based on the study of numbers and how they affect our daily lives. This system goes deep into centuries and observations made by our ancestors on how each number has effect on each person. They have found that even letters have a corresponding numerical value that can be easily transformed into a winning combination.

Whether you believe in system or not a matter of your personal preference but if you already playing … wouldn’t you like to increase your chances? I would and am doing now, although my jackpot is still in the future. Or so I hope.

The word casino used to inflict massive pain whenever I heard it being spoken. It reminded me of the days when I would go to the casino happy and excited, and end up leaving upset and flat broke. But it doesn’t have to be like this if you don’t want it to be. Gambling can be a lot of fun if you do it correctly. All you have to do is follow a few simple rules, and that begins with learning how to manage your money. Here are three tips for managing your money.

Tip One - Never Bet More Than You Can Afford To Lose

Problem gamblers bet more than they can afford to lose on a regular basis. The results are very devastating! Never let gambling take control of you. Never bet more than you can afford to lose. Sure, you could win and get your money back. But most of the time, that doesn’t seem to happen.

Tip Two - Set A Budget And Leave Once You Reach That Point

Walking out of the casino with less money than you anticipated is one of the worst feelings anyone could ever experience. Don’t ever let this happen to you. If you can’t afford to have less than one hundred dollars in your wallet, then you should stop betting when you reach that point.

Tip Three - Losing Should Not Matter

Setting a good budget means that you are comfortable losing x amount of dollars. Gambling is unpredictable, therefore you must be prepared to accept losing the money that you bet. If you really can’t handle the idea of losing your money, then you shouldn’t be gambling.

Money management is the key to controlling your losses when it comes to gambling. As the word indicates, gambling is just that, it is a gamble. If you don’t know whether you are going to win or lose, its always safe to assume you are going to lose. If you want to minimize your losses, always remember to set a budget and stick to it.

The defending NFC Champion Seahawks will have to defend their home field if they want to recover from back-to-back losses. I never thought there would be any time this season that I would say the Raiders are coming off back-to-back wins, but after an 0-3 start, Oakland has taken advantage of two down-on-their-luck teams the past two weeks with a chance to make the Seahawks the third such victim tonight.

Oakland doesn’t have history on its side, however. The Raiders haven’t won three in a row since 2002-the year they won the AFC West and made a Super Bowl appearance. Seattle hasn’t lost three in a row since 2004 and it has won eight straight against Oakland.

The Raiders, however, ended an 11-game losing streak to Arizona back on October 22nd and they did it with defense. The Raiders offense is the worst in the league not scoring an offensive touchdown in four of seven games. There is no doubt in my mind that the Ohio State Buckeyes could move the ball as well if not better.

Aaron Brooks was brought in to be the savior of the offense (God, I hope that wasn’t what they were thinking), but his early season injury has Andrew Walter, the second-year pro from Arizona State, under center. The kid obviously is lacking about five seasons of experience. I don’t ever see this guy’s skill level exceeding that of a mediocre back up.

Thankfully for the Raiders, they aren’t facing the same team that reached the Super Bowl last season tonight. Last year’s NFL leading rusher, Shaun Alexander, likely won’t play again tonight. The Seahawks are just 1-3 without Alexander in the lineup this season.

O yeah, Matt Hasselbeck is also expected to miss two more weeks.

The odds appear to be stacked in Oakland’s favor, but they will have to win tonight on the road, where they have lost by double digits in all three contests this season.

Can the Raiders keep surging with big defensive plays against a depleted Seattle offense or will the Seahawks bounce back strong at home after consecutive defeats? I have found the winning angle and will deliver the goods on the big Monday Night football stage tonight. If you’re looking to put the hurt on your man one last time in the NFL this week, you’ll make it look easy with Jimmy Boyd’s Monday Night Football Major.

With the growing popularity of online gambling, many casino game aficionados are slowly turning to the computers and playing at home instead of going to actual casino dens. One of the most popular games on the Internet is video poker, which combines the basics of a poker game and the style of a slot machine. It has become so popular that casinos have installed their own video poker machines. Here are some of the basic information that you should know about this online game.

It is not the same as the usual poker game in casinos.

Knowing the basics of the usual poker game in casinos is not enough to make you a success online. Although the rules, especially the ranking of the cards, are the same with the table game, there are differences that even the most adept player must learn. As mentioned above, the structure of the video poker game is the same as those of slot machines. In fact, even the video poker games inside casinos have much the same look.

In video poker, one is dealt with five cards from a deck. What is different in video poker is that you are able to discard some of the cards that you are holding and replace them with another. The combination of cards that you will have after clicking the draw will be your final hand. If the final hand is good, you’ll be given the pot.

This is good for people who want to test their wits against the machine. Although there is some chance involved, majority of the wins that a player will get will depend upon his skills in the poker game.

It is not the same as slot machines.

Although both video poker and slot machines are housed in the metal cabinet with coins slots, the games are quite different. While slot machine winnings depend solely on chance and luck, video poker games involve a lot of thinking skills as well as familiarity with the game.

With video poker, a person can select the cards that he will retain and discard. This means that winning the game depends on the decision that the player has made while playing the hand.

Bluffing does not work.

Obviously, the age old technique of bluffing your way to a win in poker games will not work in video poker because well… you don’t have any opponents. You are basically playing against a computer, which of course know what you hand is. With video poker, it is the strength of the hand combination that you have created that will determine your win.

Another major difference is that whatever combination you will get, you will always win. Of course, the different hand combinations will have different range of payback but basically you will win unlike the live poker games in casinos where only one player wins the pot.

Two kinds of Video Poker

Although there are basically many different kinds of video poker games, there are basically two major kinds. The single hand video poker is often played with one to five coins. And because this is a single hand game, there will be no confusion on how much you have bet for a particular game. Players of the multi-hand video poker, on the other hand, have the option to play a lot of hands. A player can choose from three hands up to a hundred hands.

Video poker is a hot game both off and online. It’s also one of the easiest gambling games to learn to play, which adds to its appeal to the novice player. There are some things which will shorten the learning curve even further for you if you’re thinking of playing video poker or if you would just like to know a little more about it.

The tips here will better your odds at winning and will make the game a much more enjoyable experience.

First and foremost, take your time. Video poker machines don’t get in a hurry for anyone to play. Check the payout charts on each hand. Play out your hand on your own time.

Don’t keep a kicker, which is an extra card, with any pair you might have. Often times a player will have a pair and keep a kicker, most often an ace, and knock themselves out of a chance to get three of a kind.

Know the layout of the machine you are playing at the time. Some video poker machines have a ‘hold’ button while others will make use of a ‘discard’ button. Be certain of which one of these buttons your current machine is using so you won’t mistakenly throw away the cards you intended to keep. The majority of video poker machines use the ‘hold’ button, but keep an eye out just in case.

Always make sure that the ‘hold’ button shows, or is lit, for each card you want to keep before you press the draw button. Some machines will have the word ‘hold’ under each card when a hold button is pressed, while others will light up the hold button only. This is something you want to watch out for.

If you are a novice player, you should begin with the lowest coin machine you can find available. Take the time to develop a feel for the video poker machine drawing strategy. Once you’ve logged some video poker time and get comfortable with the method of play, it’s time to move up.

Always play the maximum coin allowed on each machine. Payout is based on the amount of coins you use. Using more coin produces bigger payout, resulting in much happier players. If you can’t afford to play the max, go to a lower coin machine that you can afford, and play the maximum.

Be in the know about video poker machines. They are a lot like a slot machine in that the cards are dealt completely at random, generated from a cycling string of numbers till you press one of the game buttons. Once you press a button the cycling string stops and the card is displayed. So your chances of winning at any hand are equal.

Now it’s time to go play some video poker. Whether you choose to play online or at the casino, you’re chances of getting a payout just got better by arming yourself with these tips.